The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Rangers fan tried to steal boat after missing the bus
COURT: Supporter tried to set sail down River Isla after ending up at country hotel
A Rangers fan who missed the supporters’ bus home ended up trying to steal a boat from an exclusive country house hotel 60 miles away.
Souness Clark ran amok at the Ballathie House Hotel in Perthshire and eventually had to be flushed out of the riverside undergrowth by a police sniffer dog.
Clark – born weeks after manager Graeme Souness led the Ibrox team to the 1990 league title – tried to set sail down the river during the early hours of the rampage.
It was several hours after the Scottish League Cup quarter-final against Livingston that Clark’s drunken escapade took place on the banks of the River Isla.
Depute fiscal Tina Dickie told Perth Sheriff Court: “The accused arrived at the hotel with other persons around 11.45pm. They were seen to leave.
“The accused was then seen down at the river, jumping in and out between two small anchored fishing boats. He was seen within a boat.
“He tried on numerous occasions to start the engine by pulling the cord while another person was seen pushing the boat away from the bank.
“Police were called and the accused was traced by the bank of the River Isla.
“He was seen to be standing within one of the boats at the time. Upon seeing the police officers, he was seen to jump from the boat into the river, before running a short distance along the bank and trying to conceal himself within the dense shrubbery on the banking.
“He was told by police officers to get out of the shrubs.
“He refused initially and ran further down the banking into more shrubbery and continued to hide for 30 minutes.
“It was eventually when a police dog handler arrived that the accused made his way along the bank of the river – falling in at one point – and he was arrested.”
Clark, 30, Inchfad Drive, Glasgow, admitted being found in a vessel on the River Isla at Ballathie Estate on September 26 in circumstances from which it could be inferred he intended to commit theft.
He was charged alongside his cousin James Clark, 30, Achamore Crescent, Glasgow, but the court was told he had died since the incident.
Solicitor Tracy Paterson, defending, said: “They had gone on the supporters’ bus but had quite a bit to drink and missed the bus home.
“A friend had a room in Perth and that’s how they came to end up in the area.”
Sheriff Keith O’Mahoney deferred sentence for a month for Clark to be able to vouch for a medical condition.